Machines such as haul trucks, dozers, motor graders, wheel loaders, and other types of heavy equipment are used to perform a variety of tasks. Some of these machines can be autonomously controlled, semi-autonomously controlled, or remotely controlled, In any of these situations, control of the machines may be dependent on navigational data provided by different sensors mounted onboard the machines. In order for the machines to operate properly, the information provided by the sensors must be accurate. And even though most machine sensor systems are calibrated when first commissioned, vibrations, collisions, interference, range issues, and damage to the machine during operation can reduce the quality of information provided by the sensors.
An exemplary navigation system is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0180579 (“the '579 publication”) of Friend et al. that published on Jun. 26, 2014. The system of the '579 publication discloses a positioning system having a perception sensor, a locating device, and a controller in communication with the perception sensor and the locating device. The controller is configured to receive from the perception sensor scene data describing an environment in a vicinity of a machine, and a positioning signal from the locating device. The controller is further configured to estimate a first position of the machine based on the scene data, to estimate a second position of the machine based on the positioning signal, and to compare the first position to the second position. The controller is configured to then estimate a final position of the machine based on the comparison. The controller is further configured to error check the final position by comparing the final position to the second position, and to declare a fault when the final position is not within a predetermined range of the second position.
Although the system of the '579 publication may be useful in determining the position of a machine with improved accuracy provided by error checking, it can still be improved. In particular, the system of the '579 publication may not provide sufficient granularity to determine which of the perception sensor and the locating device is malfunctioning or should be relied on when the third position does not sufficiently agree with the second position.
The positioning system of the present disclosure is directed toward solving one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.